I've Heard of Canned Bread, But Boxed Beer?

02/27/14

Alright.

Everything went smoothly at the home brewing supply shop today. I decided to buy a kit that makes a Witbier, a.k.a white beer. There are several variations of the white beer, one of the more notorious being the Belgian white. This particular Witbier is described as a classic white ale that produces a fruity, spicy, refreshing, dry finish. Sound delicious!!

As I mentioned in my last post, the beer making kit has all the ingredients one will need in order to brew the beer on the box. So what might that be exactly?? Let's find out.

WHAT COMES IN THE KIT:

3.3 lb.     Wheat Liquid Malt Extract
2 lb.        Wheat Dry Malt Extract
1 lb.        Pale Malt
0.5 lb.     Wheat
0.5 lb.     Oats
1 oz.       Liberty Hops
1 oz.       GR Tetnang Hops
1            Spice Pack (dried orange peel, coriander seeds)
1 pkg.     Ale Yeast

A Few More Details...

The kit also provides the home brewer with some very important details regarding the characteristics of what the beer being brewed should possess. I am going to list these and give a brief explanation of what they mean and how they apply to brewing. After all, this is a school project.

IBU: 12 - 16

When you think of bitterness and beer, think hops. Hops are ultimately responsible for the tingly, dry, and sometimes almost metallic taste that beer most often has. This is an indication of at least one portion of the very likely outcome of BEER #1.

In order to better calculate, anticipate, and control the bitterness that hops deliver to beer, a standard unit of measurement has been adopted in regards to the bitterness of a particular beer: International Bitterness Units. The IBU scale starts at 0, with the least bitter beers sitting around 10, and continues to 100. However, beers with an IBU greater than 60 are considered to be at the top end of the bitterness spectrum.

Basically it all boils down to this: 1 IBU = 1 milligram of iso alpha acid in 1 liter of beer. Hops contain two types of acids, alpha and beta. The alpha acids are the more noticeable in terms of taste, which is why they are the determining variable for a beer's IBUs. The two styles of hops that came with this kit contain 3.9% & 4.9% alpha acids. So as you can see, 12-16 anticipated IBUs is going to mean that this beer isn't going to cause many to pucker their lips after tasting it.

OG (opening gravity): 1.045 - 1.049/FG (final gravity): 1.010 - 1.014

OG and FG are acronyms that describe the specific gravity of the beer during particular moments of the brewing and fermentation process. Specific gravity is a reference tool that is used to compare one liquid to another. Often it is used to compare the density of a liquid, in this case beer, to that of water. For beer, the greater the variance between OG and FG, the higher the beer's alcohol content. The opening gravity often has a much greater density due to undissolved/fermented sugars suspended in the liquid, causing the specific gravity to be quite high. After fermentation, the final gravity will be measured and the beer's alcohol content can be determined.

In order to roughly estimate the alcohol content by volume using the OG and FG: OG - FG x 105 = ABV.

ABV: 4.5% - 4.75%

The alcohol by volume is determined by the amount of sugar that is introduced to the wort and converted into alcohol by the yeast via fermentation. There are numerous variables that will influence a beer's ABV %, some of which are temperature, pH, the presence of other ingredients, the species of yeast, and type and/or timing of sugar(s) introduced.

Well, that's the rundown. Thanks for hanging in there and reading this. You now have a thorough understanding of what exactly I am going to be working with during the next several hours and how these ingredients will come together in making a delicious beer; fingers crossed! My next step will be to sanitize my workspace (AGAIN!) and get to brewing. I'll tell you all about it next time.